Dutch Islands Caught Up in US-Venezuela Friction

by Humberto Márquez

CARACAS - Several Dutch islands in the Caribbean, off the coast of Venezuela,
have been caught in the middle of the war of words between the Venezuelan and
U.S. governments, while the United States is getting ready to carry out naval
exercises in the area.

Dutch Defense Minister Henk Kamp recently remarked that Venezuelan President
Hugo Chávez is a "fanatic populist who has his sights set on Aruba,
Bonaire, and Curaçao"  Dutch islands located off the Venezuelan
coast.

Chávez responded by calling Kamp "ridiculous" and describing
him as a "pawn" of Washington, which he has repeatedly accused of
carrying out an international smear campaign against the Venezuelan government.

In the latest edition of his Sunday radio and television program, Chávez
argued that there is a "natural relationship, perhaps more direct than
with the kingdom [of the Netherlands] itself," between Venezuela, Aruba,
and the Netherlands Antilles, which are made up of Bonaire, Curaçao,
Saba, St. Eustatius, and St. Maarten.

Leftist independence movements arose on the islands in the 1970s. But they
declined in the 1980s as European integration advanced and when Aruba left the
Netherlands Antilles.

In response to opposition members of the Dutch parliament, who were demanding
that the government design plans to defend the islands, Kamp added fuel to the
fire by stating that the Venezuelan Navy "only has a few secondhand vessels"
that could never pose a threat to the Dutch Navy.

But on a trip to Curaçao a week ago, the minister said his only aim
was to strengthen military and coast guard cooperation with Caracas. He clarified
that there was no immediate threat to the islands, and that the Netherlands
was interested in good relations with Venezuela.

Venezuelan Navy officials, led by Rear Admiral Luis Chirinos, also visited
Curaçao to meet Frank Sijtsma, commander of the Dutch Coast Guard in
the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.

Venezuelan Rear Admiral Adalberto García said his country has no territorial
designs on the Netherlands Antilles and "no intention of attacking"
the islands.

"We guarantee the independence of every nation, and we want to attack
drug trafficking in the area, and combat illiteracy, but without imposing our
own methods on anyone. Neighbors and friends must mutually support each other,"
he added.

Political analyst Alberto Garrido, a professor at Venezuela's University of
the Andes, told IPS that "the underlying question is that Chávez
and his ally [Cuban President] Fidel Castro are working to bring cooperation
programs to the entire region, while mobilizing forces to make the 21st century
the last century of the U.S. empire."

Washington, for its part, has started up health care programs in the Dominican
Republic that are highly similar to the programs carried out by Venezuela with
Cuban support. Meanwhile, in nearby Jamaica, U.S., Dutch, and British military
personnel are training alongside some 2,000 police officers from throughout
the English-speaking Caribbean as part of "Operation Tradewinds."

The official purpose of these exercises is to "prepare regional security
forces" for the 2007 World Cricket Cup in Jamaica.

But the largest military exercise in the Caribbean, taking place throughout
April and May, is "Operation Partnership of the Americas," for which
the George Washington aircraft carrier strike group  which includes roughly
6,500 sailors, a 60-plane air wing, and three smaller warships  has been
deployed to the region.

Ports of call will include the Dutch islands 50 km off the coast of Venezuela.
The operation is organized by the Miami-based U.S. Southern Command, which oversees
military activities in Latin America, and its objective, according to U.S. Navy
officials, is "to support maritime security in the area."

Some observers, however, believe that the operation has been launched as "a
warning to Cuba and Venezuela."

Nicolás Maduro, the speaker of the Venezuelan legislature, maintained
that Kemp's statements were aimed at "preparing the psychological and political
conditions in Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire" to justify the installation
of U.S. military bases on the islands.

The international airports in Aruba and Curaçao are already used as
forward operating locations (FOL) by dozens of U.S. and allied aircraft involved
in anti-drug trafficking operations. The United States and the Netherlands are
both members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military alliance.

Maduro announced that a Venezuelan congressional commission will travel to
the Dutch Caribbean islands to meet with local political parties and authorities
and explain Venezuela's point of view.

In Garrido's view, the U.S. military maneuvers in the region "portray
Venezuela as a national security concern for Washington, as various documents
have already done." At the same time, "they are a counteroffensive
to what the Southern Command calls radical populism and considers an emerging
threat."

The exercises, he stressed, are taking place at a time when left-leaning governments
are gaining ground in the Andean region, with "the administrations of Chávez
in Venezuela and Evo Morales in Bolivia. In addition, indigenous people in Ecuador
are demanding the resignation of their president, Alfredo Palacio, for negotiating
a free trade agreement with the United States, while [anti-establishment presidential
candidate] Ollanta Humala in Peru is gaining in the polls."